Abraham Whipple

Abraham Whipple (26 September 1733-27 May 1819) was a Commodore of the Continental Navy of the United States during the American Revolutionary War. In 1772, his sinking of HMS Gaspee is considered to be the first sinking of a Royal Navy ship during the war.

Biography
Abraham Whipple was born on 26 September 1733 in Providence, Rhode Island, and he chose to be a seafarer early in his life, taking part in voyages to the West Indies and capturing 23 ships from 1759 to 1760 as a privateer in command of the ship Game Cock during the French and Indian War. Whipple led 50 troops to burn HMS Gaspee, a revenue cutter, in 1772 in protest against the government of Great Britain, and in 1775 he was promoted to Commodore in the Continental Navy. Whipple commanded 24-gun ship Columbus during the American Revolutionary War, serving under Esek Hopkins at the Battle of Nassau in 1776 and fighting against the superior Royal Navy off the coast of the Thirteen Colonies. On 12 May 1780, he was captured during the Siege of Charleston, and he decided to leave the military after his parole. Whipple became a farmer and was one of the founders of Marietta, Ohio, where he died at the age of 85 in 1819.